Islamabad, July 11, IRNA - Acting Chairman of Pakistani Senate says that his country is keen to see rapid progress on the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project and the government would pursue the project as it is in the interest of the country, Dawn newspaper reported.

Saleem Mandviwalla expressed the hope that the project would soon see the light of day. Talking to Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan Mehdi Honardost at the Parliament House, Mandviwalla underscored the need for increasing volume of trade and investment between the two countries.

He also stressed the need for reactivating the Pakistan-Iran Investment Company as it was in the interest of both countries to have a proper channel for bilateral trade and investment.

He said that Pakistan and Iran shared identical views on regional and international issues and there was a huge scope of expanding bilateral ties.

Mandviwalla also emphasized the need for activating Pakistan-Iran parliamentary friendship group to enhance cooperation at parliamentary level through frequent exchanges.

He said that both countries were intertwined in cultural, religious and regional commonalities besides sharing a vision for regional growth and prosperity.

The two sides, he said, could achieve a lot through frequent interactions at different levels for mutual benefit.

The Iranian envoy agreed with the views of Mandviwalla, saying that Iran and Pakistan could achieve a lot through enhanced interactions and bilateral cooperation.

He said that bilateral trade and investment was in the interest of both countries and would open up new avenues of bilateral cooperation.